Help Protect the Second Amendment

Dear Representative,

As your constituent I am writing to ask that you work to STOP H.R.127 - Sabika Sheikh Firearm Licensing and Registration Act. Here are some non-partisan reasons why this bill is anti-American and should not pass:

• The Second Amendment of the Constitution prohibits the government from infringing on the people’s right to keep and bear arms…this should be enough. I sure the Supreme Court would agree.

• Firearms regulations such as these are better left to the States. Each State already has infrastructure and regulations regarding firearms licensing in place, why burden the Federal Government with suddenly having to process millions of licenses and hundreds of millions of firearm registrations? The cost and time required to do this with all existing firearms is unimaginable. Although, I do not think firearms should be registered at ALL, a good point of comparison would be vehicle and driver’s licenses (which are not even a Constitutionally protected right). Each State is given the freedom to license drivers and register vehicles in the manner that best suits their State, why not keep firearm regulations in the hands of the States as well.

• This Bill has classist/racist implications. After all the talk of unity and ending systemic racism, legislation like this is a massive step in the wrong direction. Someone in the upper to middle class may be able to jump through the financial and time-consuming hoops required by this proposed legislation… but could someone who is out of a job because of COVID, who possibly owns a firearm passed down by their father or grandfather, and is now facing paying $800 licensing fees, registration fees, purchasing a safe, the cost of a safety course, and the cost of a psychological evaluation? And if they cannot afford to PAY for a RIGHT granted by the Constitution, they surrender their firearm or face PRISON!

• If Congress truly cares about firearm safety, use the money it would take to process all these licenses and registrations toward federal grants for teaching firearms safety courses, and subsidizing gun safes. Think of the single mother who works two jobs and has a firearm to defend her home, as in the example above, she will not be able to afford to comply with this bill… she probably cannot even afford the time and money for training and a safe. There are organizations that teach gun safety that would greatly benefit from a Federal Grant…one such organization is Black Guns Matter, who teach gun safety in inner cities. Gun stores around the country would gladly apply for a Federal Grant to be able to offer discounted safes to those in need. Fire departments have car seat safety classes and giveaways for low-income families, if this bill is truly about the safety of American families, there are much more effective ways to increase safety.

• What does a ban on .50 caliber ammunition accomplish? According to Table 20 of the FBI’s crime statistics, in 2019 only 364 homicides were committed using rifles. How many of those were from .50 caliber rifles? It does not say, but I’d hazard a guess that number has got to be extremely close to 0. One of the only types of ammunition you can find on shelves at the moment is .50 caliber, the reason why…very few people own a .50 rifle, its heavy and expensive, and the ammunition is as well. So, once again, what is the purpose of a ban? Without justifiable facts to back up proposed legislation, this appears to be placing restrictions on the rights of the American people, just for the sake of placing restrictions on the rights of the American people. Not to mention the slippery slope it starts us down, for when it comes time that they wish to ban .308, 5.56 ,or 7.62, they are hoping the American people are used to having their rights taken out from under them.

• Again, on the point of the extremely low number of homicides committed by rifles, it is unnecessary to create an additional licensing requirement for ‘military style’ rifles. The facts simply do NOT justify these restrictions.

 

Thank you for taking the time to read my letter. I am hopeful that after a record setting year of gun sales, there may be Democrats who are willing to look at the facts and consider the rights of ALL Americans, not just the ones who can afford to comply with the hefty financial impact of this bill.